Short and sweet lessons from my week at the beach..

1. Thong bikinis have a front and a back (apologies for the mental image)
2. Vacation diet tip: shower outside in front a a full length mirror before every meal.
3. Never leave a pizza box in the car you leave at home…even if you think it’s empty…especially when it’s parked in the sun.
4. Sand is the enemy…it also doesn’t replace croutons well in salad.
5. Just ’cause you’re at the beach, doesn’t mean the chowder ain’t Campbells
6. Never take a grown up size tube down a child sized enclosed slide at the water park

It’s a question most of never really think about…

Or, if we do, we think about it fleetingly, then tuck it away for some time down the road…when we’ll be able to finally do something about it.

Then, we go about the business of more or less responding to life, just doing what’s in front of us every day. Soon enough, a few minutes turn into a few hours. Then, hours turn into days, days turn into weeks…and, out of nowhere, we find ourselves years down the road, but still no closer to doing what we really want to be doing.

Today is the fourth annual BlogDay, where bloggers from all over the world share five blogs with their readers to expand the conversation.

So, here are five great bloggers and blogs to go check out, if you’re not already a reader…

1. Liz Strauss | Successful-Blog.com - Liz’s blog isn’t a one-time destination, it’s that place you stop by every day to have great conversation with engaging, thoughtful people…led, of course, by Liz herself. If you’re not reading Liz, you’re missing out.

You’d never buy a company without knowing as much as possible about it.

And, you’d certainly never take a job without searching for everything you could find about the company and your potential boss online. You might even set up Google Alerts to track the mentions of the company and it’s senior or hiring officers to make sure you are up to speed on breaking news and chatter.

But, is it cool to tap Google Alerts to follow (aka “track) as much of the chatter, actions, movements and news on someone you hope to connect with on a business level in the future?

The man literally burst forth, panting and shirtless…

He was in his fifties, deeply tanned, wearing only pajama bottoms. And, he was running, zigging and zagging in the sand. Trying desperately to stay upright as he sprinted to catch the object of his desire. From his hand, a camera dangled.

He needed to capture this. He needed to remember it.

He needed proof. It was that stunning.

And, yes I had to agree. It was.

5:58 a.m.  Not a person on the beach but the two of us. I, in deep meditation, he running, panting and clicking to save his life.

Much has been said and written over the last year or so about the importance of being a consistent blogger.

And, I’ve added to the discussion with my own thoughts, posts and ideas.

By consistent, I mean:

• Staying on topic
• Publishing on a regular basis
• Keeping to an editorial calendar of types of posts and content
• Publishing at a similar time of day
• and interacting regularly with your readers.

A few months back, Maki wrote a great post over at DoshDosh.com about the power of patterning your readers with editorial calendars and creating an expectation of consistency that provides comfort and fuels loyalty.

Simple question, what’s more important speed or precision?

On the one hand, we live in a world where, increasingly, we expect everything to happen in the blink of an eye. Especially where I live, in NYC, where the city literally never sleeps and we’d rather chew glass than wait for anything.

Let’s face it, we live in a just-in-time world and economy.

And, the rapid decrease in free time is leading people to place a higher value on products and services that, in some way shape or form, give them back some time.

This week, I’ve got two and the theme revolves around productivity:

• The Myth of Multitasking by Dave Crenshaw
  
• 

• Jumpstart Your Workspace by Glen Stansberry
  

So, let’s dive right in…

The Myth of Multitasking | Dave Crenshaw

What’s it all about? The title pretty much says it all, the book explores the problem with trying to multitask and reveals the dark underbelly of what’s become a badge of honor in the modern business world…it doesn’t work.

It was so subtle, I almost missed it…

But, still, it was right there. Lingering. Making my daughter feel worse about herself, without her really getting why.

A few minutes earlier, she’d been deep into the process of creation, her friend at her side. Two 7-year old girls drawing, decorating, pouring their hearts onto paper and pastels. Pronouncing she was done, my daughter turned to her friend, looking for approval.  But, what came out of her friend’s mouth was…

“Actually, that’s really pretty.”

Can twitter actually land you a major speaking gig?

So, I’ve talked about twitter as a virtual water cooler and a tool for business and access, but now we can add virtual speakers agent to the mix.

Earlier this week, I was considering going to the Blogworld conference out in Vegas, September 20-21st. But, I didn’t know who else was going. So, I jumped on twitter and asked who was heading out to the City of Sin in a few weeks. A handful of people replied, moving me closer to going.